Local senior officer Paul Tanzilli said: "This tragic incident is
a stark reminder of the awful consequences of fire within the home and the thoughts of all emergency responders will be with the family and friends of the lady who has died.

"Despite firefighters reaching the incident in less than four minutes, we are faced with the horrible reality that a member of our community has lost her life.

"An investigation will take place into the cause of this fire, however we should all act now to ensure our homes and those of people around us are fire safe.

"We know that even small fires can produce lethal levels of toxic
smoke, which can quickly move beyond where the fire is located to spread throughout a property.

"It is essential that every property is protected by working smoke alarms, which give anyone inside vital time to get to safety if a fire does start.

"Cooking appliances should never be left unattended while they are in use and anything that could easily catch fire - like kitchen roll
or towels - must be kept well away from cookers."